Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DRA V. WJ-III Achievement Test

I don't know for sure yet but it looks like the school may refuse to move DS up to his proper level in reading. Ostensibly, from what I can gather from DS, it is because they do not like his "summary," which is a required part of the DRA, apparently, to move up. According to the WJ-III Reading scores and the accompanying tester report, DS should be reading material at least a 3.6 grade level. The report said any material under 3.0 will be "quite easy" for him. It looks like the school wants to keep him at just under 3.0 level. I already told the school I am sending in appropriate level books (based on our independent WJ-III test) for independent reading whether they like it or not. However, I am wondering is there a basis for me to assert that the WJ-III us a more accurate and reliable assessment than the DRA? I know I can't make them do anything but it troubles me that they want to keep him under a ceiling when it is clear he should move higher. Also, it worries me that he is losing out on instruction. I know it isn't that big of deal and that they will do what they want and I will do what we want, ultimately; but, just wondering... isn't the WJ-III a more reliable measure? His reading score was in the 87 percentile which I know isn't super high but it's high enough and he should be reading and being instructed on more challenging material.

How high have they tested him on the DRA? Do you know if they are testing him until he can't go any further or just testing up to grade level (this happened with our ds in early elementary; the school wouldn't test further).

This is jmo, and I'm just a parent, so take it fwiw! I personally think the DRA *should* be a better test for assessing reading comprehension level than the WJ-III - the WJ-III reading tests are very brief (at least what I've seen of them), and for the DRA (that our kids were tested with) the student had to read an entire book.

Another issue with using the WJ-III tests to argue for more challenge is that teachers aren't familiar with them (at least our teachers weren't lol), and they are familiar with the DRA.

So - my first direction here would be to be sure ds was assessed using the DRA going as far as he could go, and wasn't stopped at an artificial ceiling. If they come back and tell you that he was allowed to go as far as he could and he didn't get past grade level 3.0, tell them that doesn't match what you are seeing him read at home, please test him again. If you think he's reading a lot higher than where they have him, you might ask that they skip over a few levels and just *start* higher.

OTOH, if he's reading at 3.6 and they are testing him at 3.0 or just below, I don't know that the difference is large enough to make it worth a battle if you're in a tough position advocating for higher challenge in reading. You can still challenge him at home, and I'm guessing he'll be fine

Best wishes,

polarbear

Our kids have tested lower than their actual level on the DRA because it conflates retelling (and writing) skills with reading comprehension. If a child is behind in retelling or writing, the DRA doesn't allow a lot of room-- it just "looks" like the child doesn't understand, even if he does.

Good luck getting traction on this one. We did briefly, but recently we have been back in "this is all we can measure" territory.

Once you hit 4th grade, it shifts from learn-to-read to read-to-learn. I am trying to regard the whole level business as a temporary annoyance.

I think you're talking about 1 reading level. The DRA skips numbers at a certain point, since reading progresses differently as kids age (ie, the difference from the beginning of 1st to the 6th month of 1st grade is different from the beginning of 3rd to the 6th month of 3rd). I could be wrong, but I thing the DRA jumps from 30 to 34 to 38. That would put your DS at a 34 rather than a 30. You know your situation better than I do, but I have to wonder if one reading level is worth the fight. It could hurt the relationship you have with his teacher, which ultimately hurts the relationship HE has with his teacher. But maybe there's more to this picture...

You're right Kathryn to a certain extent. It's two levels of DRA I believe 30 and 34 (they are trying to keep him at 28). The problem is it makes a difference in 100 book challenge reading levels. He needs to be at 34 for him to move to the "white level" 100 book challenge books. They are using it to keep him at the lower RR (double red) which he had been at all year long. So that's where it's driving DS a little nuts. He says even the white books are easy though. But he's frustrated b/c everyone else is moving up in levels (they were much lower than he at the start, though) but he's not moving anywhere. I guess it's an emotional/psychological thing for him ( again everyone's learning and being rewarded with a feeling of accomplishment and he's not - he looks like he is in the same place he was when he started this year and it's hard ion his morale.) I am sending in our own books regardless of what they think; so, ultimately, it doesn't matter. DS just wants to "move up" and get that feeling of accomplishment - he gets frustrated with looking like he's not making progress. He also wants the option of reading white level class books.

I could be wrong but my feeling is that their true goal is that they do not want him starting 3rd grade on a level that is 4th grade. If they keep him down for a few more months he will end the year the same as his classmate at RR/level 28 and then he can begin 3rd grade at the same level as everyone else.

It's demoralizing for him.

However, I guess it really isn't worth a big fight. I'll just send in books for independent reading and enrich him at home.

I am wondering about the wording in the report you got for your WJ-III. In our experience, my kids do score much higher on WJ-111 compared to DRA levels. It's been my understanding that WJ doesn't well align well to classroom curriculum nor does AE or GE mean an actual curriculum level. My DS had GE at High school or above at age 8 on either WJ or WIAT. He didn't belong in HS or College level material at 8. My DD also had AE & GE equivalents way beyond the actually appropriate placement for her. I would ask your tester for a better explanation for the GE levels. I have not had a tester equate those to curriculum levels. In particular, a private tester because schools can vary so much from one another on curriculum.

I'm not a huge fan of DRA. My dd had trouble last year with it. She was unfamiliar with her tester and got super quiet during the testing. When she finally tested with a familiar face her score went up much close to her WJ scores. It has continued to rise as she gets a little more comfortable with the process. My dd is always reading way above her DRA scores. She reads almost any text in front of her but fluency in reading isn't the same as comprehension. I always know when she has picked something to far beyond her comprehension level. Every 2 seconds she is stopping to ask me a question about what she just read. I have actually gotten her a dictionary app to look up the words she does not understand. Listening to her read out loud she sounds like a little adult reading.

If you feel it's a real mismatch for your DS, I would argue for better placement. I don't know that I would use the GE vs DRA argument. The school will likely tell you that WJ-III doesn't match their curriculum as well as the DRA does. I would try to find other ways to demonstrate the mismatch. I actually took a video of my dd last year reading out loud and then discussing the book. As the school, kept saying her comprehension was low. My dd reads with great inflection with demonstrates in and of itself that she is comprehending the text. They next switched the reason said it was the retell. I actually took a video to demonstrate to them it was her comfort level with the tester. Oddly enough, they declined to watch the video . They did agree to retest with a person she was comfortable with already.

I'm not sure your DS's age or grade but starting at or above level 28 the DRA goes from Oral retell to written retell. This was an issue for DD in first grade because she had a real weakness in handwriting. She would avoid it at all cost and it made her get stuck at 28 for a long time. Given you mention his WJ suggesting 3.0 or above, I am wondering is he getting stuck at 28 because of written responses? A 28 is the end of 2nd grade goal for 2nd grade and obviously isn't that far from a 3.6 GE. Maybe the discrepancy isn't that large and can be fixed with handwriting improvements like my DD. Also keep in mind, I have heard of schools that are unwilling to test past the end of the year goal. In 1st grade the year end is 16 and 28 for 2nd grade. Is that a possibility? My school thankfully doesn't use that philosophy but I have heard of many of them doing just that.

Just tossing ideas of possible reasons for the difference.

Ahh I posted without seeing your responses. I don't know that I would battle over a level or two. My dd was testing over a year below what we saw at home. It was a huge contrast for her. Sounds like you already know they may be capping the levels. If that is the standard practice at the school it would be an epic battle to change it.

It is demoralizing for them. My dd was so sad and bored last year.

Jtooit is right - 28 is where they shift from oral to written retell.

DRA is decent for a child whose skills develop relatively sychronously.

My rule of thumb is to not to complain if the levels are within 10 or what I think is appropriate (1 grade level). There are enough good stories in the 30s that the kid should be fine. A good teacher will instruct many of these comprehension skills at all these levels. There's always reading at home to round things out.

We've found WJIII grade equivalents to not correlate with DRA, particularly for my asychronous kids.